I attended Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 1990-1993. If you add that up that is 3 years at a two-year college, but hey what can I say, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I then transferred to the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa where I completed a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry in 1995. I remained UNI for another year where, in 1996, I completed a Master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry. As a graduate student I worked under the world-renowned Analytical Chemist Dr. Curtiss Hanson. My Master’s Thesis is entitled “Modeling the Reaction Mechanism of Thermoset Plastic during Pyrolytic Decomposition Utilizing Laser Desorption Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Mass Spectrometry”.

After completing my graduate work at UNI, I was employed at Kirkwood Community College, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as an adjunct instructor. While at Kirkwood I taught courses in biology, chemistry and environmental science. In 1997, I was hired as a chemistry instructor at Black Hawk College. I am currently teaching Principles of Organo-Bio Chemistry, General Chemistry and Introduction to Chemistry.